2025 Oscar Picks Deep Dive: Documentary Short Film
A powerful pack of 5 films under 40 minutes each!
I did a marathon of three back-to-back screenings of all 15 of the Oscar-Nominated Short Films last week. Presented by Shorts.TV for 20 years, I didn’t even know this was a thing until I looked up things to do while in Pittsburgh. That’s how I discovered the amazing, the wonderful, the delightful theater that is Row House Cinemas in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The passion for cinema is dripping from the walls in that place, and I had an excellent 7 hours there!
Shorts.TV collects all 5 films in the categories of Documentary Short Film, Animated Short Film, and Live Action Short Film and puts them back to back with quality introductions in-between. Now that I know this is a thing I plan to make this an annual outing going forward, and lucky ducky, now I know this is a thing for the Minneapolis Film Society at the revamped The Main Cinema on the river.
“Now I know!”
“And knowing is half the battle!”
I also know that this is R-Rated Movie Club (thank you for subscribing!) and these films aren’t R-rated (thank you for subscribing, anyway!).
That said, Oscar buzz is in the air, and there are certain cinematic categories that many of us just don’t get around to seeing before the awards - and for many of us, that includes these under 40-minute short film masterpieces.
I thought hey, I saw them, I can offer an opinion so you have at least some knowledge when the categories come up. Who knows? You may even be less tempted to sneak to the kitchen for a snack.
I’ll write my rankings for these three Oscar categories in the order I saw the screenings: Documentary Short Films, Animated Short Films, and Live Action Short Films. And with that, let’s look to the nonfiction portion of our program…
All five are great films, and here they are in my ranked order, fifth to first:
And the Best Documentary Short Film Nominees are…
Death By Numbers | Kim A. Snyder, 33 min. USA, English
This film follows writer and school shooting survivor Sam Fuentes as she recalls the horrific shooting at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas School High School in Parkland, Florida that left 17 dead and 17 more wounded in 6 minutes on February 14, 2018. Sam shares her journals leading up to, during, and after the sentencing trial as she grapples with her PTSD.
Director Kim A. Snyder once again teams up with producers Janique L. Robillard, Maria Cuomo Cole for this harrowing film of celebrating life in the face of death. This Peabody Award-winning filmmaking trio lets the audience weigh a variety of heavy topics, including gun violence, anti-Semitism, survivor’s guilt, revenge, forgiveness, vulnerability and accountability, the death penalty, and more. Each topic weaves into the next, a complex web stemming from this terrible - and preventable - horror.
It’s not easy ranking any of these films last of five, but I’ll have to place Death by Numbers here. Please don’t take that as it not being a worthy subject and a well-done film. It’s just that something has to go here. If I had to give any critique, it’s that I wish it was just a tad more focused in the face of so many topics. Perhaps that’s intentional, given that it chronicles sheer chaos. Still, you will be touched by this film.
At the time of this writing, there isn’t yet a way to buy, rent, or livestream this 33-minute short film. It may appear later on its official website. Watch a trailer here:
Incident | Bill Morrison, 30 min. USA, English
This real-time nominee is all told through surveillance cameras, police body cams, and camera phones. Sometimes silent and sometimes louder than you’d ever like, Incident recounts the afternoon of July 14, 2018 when Harith “Snoop” Augustus, a local Chicago barber, was killed by officer Dillan Halley. Directed and edited by Bill Morrison, we see the incident happen several times from several angles, like a real-life Rashomon, and the ensuing immediate aftermath.
Because the film ends on the day of the incident, we are left with a brief epilogue detailing the outcome. Depending on your perspective, that may be nearly as emotional as the incident itself. If you’re not familiar, I encourage you not to look up what happened, so as to let the film wash over you.
This was a tough watch. Over and over, I found myself frustrated with many people, be they law enforcement or civilian. I was impressed with the editing and variety of footage; it is a feat of real-time filmmaking. For example, I believe one of the overhead cameras from the neighborhood is on-screen the entire film, while we get other footage coming alongside all throughout. The multiple uses of split screen is effective, lending itself to amplifying the chaos. It leaves you as the audience with one overwhelming feeling: helpless.
Mostly, I just wish none of this ever happened.
You can watch a trailer or the entire 30-minute short film for free at YouTube:
The Only Girl in the Orchestra | Molly O’Brien, 34 min. USA, English
Smitten with admiration from a young age, director Molly O’Brien set out to make a film documenting the retirement of her aunt Orin O’Brien, an amazing woman, double bassist, and whom just so happens to be the first woman to play in the New York Philharmonic. symphony orchestra. And if you’re a timeline person, that happened in 1966 when Orin was 31. She retired 55 years later at 85, and she’s 89 today.
This is Molly’s love letter to artistry, to music, to (retirement) life after (a lifetime of work) death, to a trailblazing achievement for women’s rights, and above all, to her aunt. You’ll hear about both those who made this move toward equality happen and those who critiqued it and you may roll your eyes as you realize 1. it wasn’t all that long ago, and 2. we still have a long way to go. This celebration of an important “first” has a double-bass resonance for today and tomorrow.
I was quite taken with this one. It’s captivating to hear Molly and Orin both offering a different take on Orin’s legacy (Molly: This is important! Orin: Whatever.). The second half of the film, detailing Orin’s retirement and move from her longtime apartment gave me a lot to think about with those in my life who are experiencing transitions, especially in their autumn years. If you have someone in your life going through that, or about to, I recommend this one to you and them, especially.
You can watch the entire 34-minute short film at Netflix. Watch a trailer here:
Instruments of a Beating Heart | Ema Ryan Yamazaki, 23 min. Japan, Japanese
School culture is different wherever you go. I even find that the case for the school my kids went to versus the one they go to now, thanks to a recent redistricting. Add in the difference of nationality, and you will really feel how different. That’s one of the first things I felt watching Instruments of a Beating Heart, a lovely short film from Japan about First Graders preparing to play “Ode to Joy” as a welcome gift to the incoming First Grader class. I believe this is the only nominee told through all contemporary footage. No flashbacks, photos, voiceover, interaction with the filmmakers, or other common devices of the genre. That gave it a unique feel during the screening, and it’s one of two which aren’t about life and death.
The cultural difference is stark. Well, maybe. I couldn’t believe the outright “If you don’t want to do your best, then leave” style of the music teacher. I cringed at the children crying in their shame of not being good enough. I shook my head over the intense pressure put on 7-year-olds so they could impress 6-year-olds.
And just when I was about to think “Way to go, Japan,” I realized hold up - we have similar styles, shame, and pressure in the United States! It may not manifest in the exact same way or for the exact same reasons, but we have this. I felt it growing up. I feel it today. I don’t like it at all. Maybe differences are similarities.
While things are different, what’s uniting are the film’s themes: inner pressure to succeed, exterior pressure to succeed, individual achievement, team achievement, welcome and hospitality to the stranger, responsibility and accountability of the wise, art and expectation, shame and humility, and above all, what does it take to beat as one heart - and is it worth the cost?
That was my takeaway as I reflected on the universal truths at this film’s beating heart.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
You can watch a trailer or the entire 23-minute short film for free on YouTube:
I Am Ready, Warden | Smriti Mundhra, 37 min. USA, English
Up front: I am opposed to the death penalty in all cases, hard stop. People can put all of the real-life or hypothetical ethical quandaries they want to me. I have zero interest in a debate and I’m not changing my mind. I knew that going into this film and I stand by it coming out of it.
In 2008, John Henry Ramirez, 20, murdered Pablo Castro, 46, outside of a convenience store, stabbing him 29 times. Now with free reign of the store, Ramirez and his companions stole less than two dollars. He fled to Mexico, he was caught, he was convicted, he was put on death row. The film details all of that while focusing on the appeals process. I wasn’t familiar with the case and I won’t tell you where the film leaves the story, but I will say if you don’t know, I encourage you not to look it up so that you can bear witness to events unfolding as these people did in their lives.
Castro can no longer speak for himself, and it’s not only Ramirez who has a voice in this story. We hear from District Attorney Mark Gonzalez who seeks clemency, Ramirez’s spiritual advisor Dana Moore who seeks mercy, Israel Ramirez who seeks connection with his father, and Aaron Castro who seeks justice for his father. This web of people caught up in the waves of trauma from this incident is heartbreaking, especially regarding the sons. Aaron was 14 when his father was murdered. Israel is 14 as his father faces execution. It churns my stomach thinking about the tragic parallel.
It could be the subject matter or my firm stance on it, or it could be effective filmmaking or a combination of it all, but this was the documentary short film that moved me the most. I intend to revisit it on my own and share it with others. I’ll write more about why below.
You can watch the entire 37-minute short film on Paramount+. Watch a trailer here:
Will Win: Incident
My hunch is that for documentaries, the more prominent the social issue, the more likely it is to be the winner. I don’t know if that’s true, nor if it’s true if that’s the best way to vote for awards, but as I say, I think that’s how this may go.
And with that said, it’s quite possible Incident takes Oscar gold. It’s well-made, it’s compelling, and it shows brutal complexities of a challenging reality of our world.
Should Win: I Am Ready, Warden
And with that said, the big winner here for me is I Am Ready, Warren. It fired on all cylinders for me and it lays the horrors of generational trauma at our feet and doesn’t let up. I truly had no idea what would happen up until the very last moment of the film, and I am grateful for how this particular story touched upon a broader story that goes back for as long as we have known how to harm one another: what is justice?
I’ll put it this way: for a combined 2 hour, 38 minute run time of these 5 short films, it’s the full 1 minute of raw, vulnerable silence we get from Aaron Castro near the end of I Am Ready, Warden that gripped me the most. I wept when he finally broke that silence with a simple sentence about a complex situation:
“I’m confused.”
I think we all are.
None of these films have the answers. I don’t know if that’s a documentary’s job.
But the strong questions - like the greatest questions of philosophy, ethics, and faith - are held with tender care in all 5 of these stories. Truly, a powerful pack of films.
Your turn!
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